Once again, the scientific community has brought attention to the devastating impact antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is having on the world. This time, it was research in The Lancet that highlighted the global impact of AMR and the 1.27 million deaths that were attributed to it in 2019.
Though the study was the largest-to-date, it wasn’t the first time such warnings have been issued. For years now we’ve heard of what growing resistance to antibiotics means for the healthcare industry and how it functions. AMR threatens the foundations of medicine in such a way that it could mean the end to healthcare treatments we’ve taken for granted for years - routine surgeries, childbirth, even cancer care.
Perhaps it’s because deaths attributed to AMR were so much higher than previous estimates of 700,00, or that the Covid-19 pandemic has made us aware of the global impact that health crises can have, but this time the message seemed to make an impact.